Though Dejah Burroughs never met her great-grandfather, novelist and "Tarzan"
creator Edgar Rice Burroughs,
she is more than insistent on keeping his name alive.

"Before my dad passed away, he made sure I would take this legacy on,"
Dejah Burroughs said. "This is part of my life and my heritage and I should
be thankful for what I have and what he gave me. It's a very important
thing that we need to keep going for our young kids."

Along with older sister Llana, Dejah took the torch she now bears to
the Pleasant
Home in Oak Park, 217 Home Ave., on Aug. 20. There, she was joined
by about 80 Burroughs fans from all over the world – some as near as Burroughs's
hometown of Chicago and others as far as Columbia – as part of Dum-Dum
2010, the annual gathering of the Burroughs Bibliophiles.

While the "Tarzan" series is by far Burroughs' most popular creation,
it is but a blip on the author's creative radar. Considered by many, including
his great-grandchildren, to be the "grandfather of science fiction," Burroughs
generated mega-hits generations before the likes of "Star Trek" and "Star
Wars" reaped box-office success.

"He was the inspiration for a lot of those properties, and it shows
the impact and the influence of how his work helped so many people," said
Cathy Wilbanks, executive assistant at
Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. in Tarzana, CA.

"They've learned to read through him, they've changed their lives because
of him," she added. "He's such an incredible inspiration and a lot of people
can really identify with his characters. It's been fantastic."

Wilbanks, who resides in Santa Clarita Valley, CA., also serves as the
archivist at the Burroughs House, where she handles the licenses for many
of the creative properties.

Comic book artist Thomas Yeates
has dealt with Wilbanks and Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. on numerous occasions
to secure licenses for his illustrations. Yeates said he was inspired by
the author's views on society, which further translated to a love of his
work.

"Being a man who had failed at every business you could imagine, and
many you couldn't, before he started writing at 35 or 36, he was very critical
of society, as I am," said Yeates of Jenner, CA. "I relate to his brand
of escapism because he was so out of sorts with our society."

Devoted fans like Yeates were treated to an opening reception, replete
with food and drink, and an extensive display of Burroughs memorabilia
to cap off the afternoon.

The faded Depression-era newspaper clippings, movie props and first-edition
"Tarzan" magazines making up the collection were more than enough to keep
the bibliophiles energized. According to Wilbanks, it was exactly what
Dejah's forefathers would have wanted.

"It's exciting," Dejah Burroughs said of the event. "It makes me feel
like my dad. He really wanted to [preserve] this legacy, and everyone is
helping it come along and put it out there. It feels very comforting to
me. He's a great man, Edgar Rice Burroughs."

Looking for more info about Burroughs? Make sure to check out our series
"Oak
Park Influences."

Oak Park InfluencesRay Bradbury on Edgar Rice Burroughs"Oak Parker Burroughs is "probably the most influential writer
in the entire history of the world."By Robert K. Elder ~ Oak
Park Patch ~ August 25, 2010

Ray Bradbury, author of The Martian Chronicles,
The Illustrated Man and Fahrenheit 451 (among many other books) loves the
work of Oak Park's Edgar Rice Burroughs.

In an excerpt from Sam Weller's recently published book, Listen
To The Echoes: The Ray Bradbury Interviews, Bradbury talks about
Burroughs, creator of Tarzan and his own set of Mars adventures featuring
John Carter. "I love to say it because it upsets everyone terribly—Burroughs
is probably the most influential writer in the entire history of the world,"
Bradbury said.

"By giving romance and adventure to a whole generation of boys, Burroughs
caused them to go out and decide to become special. That's what we have
to do for everyone, give the gift of life with our books. Say to a girl
or boy at age ten: Hey, life is fun! Grow tall! I've talked to more biochemists
and more astronomers and technologists in various fields, who, when they
were ten years old, fell in love with John Carter and Tarzan and decided
to become something romantic. Burroughs put us on the moon. All the technologists
read Burroughs."